Sunday, July 31, 2011

Located on the western shore of Lake Assawompsett south of Nelson's Grove, Green Point Grove is a less well remembered venue for summer outings, but as these two small advertising cards attest, the site was popular during the summer season for music and dancing in the last quarter of the 19th century. Dating possibly from 1886, the cards advertise a "social assembly" featuring John M. Carter's quadrille band. Transportation was provided by "Admiral", a so-called party wagon capable of transporting a large number of passengers.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

The 1878 death of Kendrick Washburn of Middleborough in Trinidad, Colorado, was clearly a case of being in “the wrong place at the wrong time.” However what most Middleborough residents of the day found shocking about the occurrence was not the circumstances of Washburn’s death, but what passed for justice in its wake.

Trinidad, Colorado, situated in the southeastern portion of the state midway between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Denver, Colorado, was a community which was described in 1868 as having “the most frontier style of living in the whole of Colorado Territory”. During the 1870s, it experienced rapid growth, in part spurred by the arrival of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in 1878, and its population quadrupled in size during the decade. Despite - or perhaps because of - the town’s growth, the town remained one of the “roughest in the Old West”, and it was not until the tenure of Bat Masterson as sheriff in 1882-83 that the community was finally made safe for all.

Trinidad, Colo. 1882. County Seat of Las Animas County.

panoramic map (Madison, WI: J. J. Stoner, 1882).

The West retained its rough and tumble image among Easterners who were typically unaccustomed to frontier living. Among them was Kendrick Harlow Washburn who was born in Middleborough April 20, 1860, and who had learned the rudiments of both farming and stock rearing on the farm of his father, Sumner Washburn, a master farmer. By 1877, 17-year-old Kendrick had relocated West to Colorado where undoubtedly the lure of opportunity attracted him as it did many other young educated Easterners. Washburn, if reports in the Middleboro Gazette of the period are accurate, first located about August, 1877, to Mexico (although the newspaper may have meant New Mexico) to try sheep-raising with Willie Leonard of Middleborough. (Leonard is probably the same William H. Leonard who in later years served as postmaster of the gold boomtown Rawhide, Nevada).

Sometime following 1877, Washburn seems to have been employed on one of the large ranches in the section where he was engaged as foreman until his untimely death on December 9, 1878.

Kendrick Washburn, the second son of the late Sumner Washburn, of this place, was shot in the Theatre at Trinidad, Col., a short time since. He went some fifteen months ago, and has been employed as foreman on a large cattle ranch. It seems he had gone some sixty miles in search of a stray horse, and went to the theatre at the town where he stopped for the night. A drunken fellow came into the place saying that he was going to shoot, and shoot he did into the crowd, the ball hitting Washburn, who died about two days after. His body was embalmed and sent home for interment. The murderer was fined thirty-five dollars and costs, for carrying concealed weapons, and then went on his way unmolested.[Old Colony Memorial, December 26, 1878:4, “Middleboro’”]

The record of Washburn’s death at Middleborough lists the cause simply as “Accident.”

Mercifully, Washburn’s father had died that February (1878), though his mother lived until 1905. It’s not clear what impact Washburn’s death, its manner, or its unjust outcome may have had upon the family, though his younger brother Nathan became an attorney and later noted judge at Middleborough. Nathan Washburn’s son, born in 1893, was named in honor of his murdered uncle and himself later became a prominent judge in Middleborough, as well.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Begun in 1902 and completed in 1904, the Middleborough Public Library Building was erected as a symbol of the intellectual advance of the community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Middleborough Public Library was organized by vote of the Town Meeting of September 19, 1874, as a successor to a number of previous private subscription libraries that had operated locally. In the months following the library’s foundation, the Library Committee commenced the work of accumulating a collection, and by March, 1875, the Committee had some "1200 volumes with which to commence their Public Library, and a fund on hand with which to purchase more." With nearly 2,000 volumes, the library was formally opened in September, 1875, in the northeast corner room of Middleborough Town Hall where it would remain for over a quarter century.

Though the library did not expand in its earliest years as readily as the library trustees might have wished, it did possess a growing collection comprised of some 3,470 volumes by 1882. The continual growth of the library's collection during this early period resulted in increasingly cramped quarters, and within ten years of the public library's establishment, the trustees were expressing a need for greater accommodation. "When the Library was first opened to the public in 1875 it was regarded almost in light of an experiment. Since then its growth has not been rapid, but steady and substantial, so that now it has outgrown its accommodations and is much in need of more room. The present shelves in nearly all the classifications are crowded, and many valuable reports and documents are not cataloged for want of room to shelf them. Including these books the number now belonging to the library is considerably more than 4,000. Will not the citizens of the town see that this library has a place such as befits its sphere of usefulness?" queried the trustees in February, 1885.

Though a memorial hall and library building was proposed in mid-1887 as a monument to the community's Civil War dead, the suggestion never reached fruition, and the library remained in its tight quarters. Some relief, however, was found following September, 1887, once the new Middleborough High School Building (later the Bates School) was dedicated and occupied, and the high school abandoned its rooms in the Town Hall, one of which was given over to the use of the library as a reading room. At this time, the library's collection had reached 5,000 volumes, including uncataloged and unshelved books.

The 1887 "expansion" provided only a temporary respite from the library's problem of lack of space. The original room became increasingly cluttered, and was serviced by only 1,900 linear feet of book cases and shelving to house the library's collection which was continually accruing. This remained the situation until an unanticipated turn of events in 1901 dramatically altered the library's situation.

Funding for the erection of a new building devoted to the exclusive use of the public library was provided by an unexpected bequest made by will of Thomas Sproat Peirce, who died in September, 1901. Peirce was the last survivor of the locally prominent and wealthy Peirce family and reportedly had been motivated by the memory of his late brother William Rounseville Peirce, a trustee of the Middleborough Public Library for years, to establish twin financial bequests benefitting that institution. “I give and bequeath to the town of Middleborough the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the purpose of erecting a Public Library building in said town. Said building to be erected within two years from the date of my decease by the Trustees of the Public Library of said town”. An additional bequest of a further $50,000 was made somewhat reluctantly by Peirce at the urging of his assistant, Chester Weston, for the establishment of a trust fund known as the Peirce Book Fund, income from which was to be utilized for the purchase of books, periodicals and newspapers for the library.

Notwithstanding the generous Peirce bequest, the lack of a suitable lot threatened to delay progress towards a new library building. While the nine library trustees were "laboring very conscientiously to secure a location for the building" during the last quarter of 1901, Adelaide K. Thatcher, head librarian since 1884, did not feel "assured of a new building in the near future," and cited the continuing challenges of the library's existing Town Hall location, particularly the fact that "many of the classifications are crowded and the library force labor under the disadvantage of lack of room and insufficient lighting."

In February, 1902, when the Peirce Trustees offered the town the Peirce family's "squash lot" on the northwest corner of North Main and Peirce Streets as a building site, the library trustees accepted with alacrity. The lot had been so named as it was the corner of the Peirce family garden where squashes had once been cultivated. It was emphasized at the time that the new library building standing beside the former Peirce homestead on North Main Street would form a "double memorial" to the generosity of benefactor Thomas S. Peirce.

The public library's Board of Trustees, then comprised of Calvin D. Kingman, Warren H. Southworth, Nathan Washburn, George Brayton, Edward S. Hathaway, Andrew M. Wood, David Gurney Pratt, Warren B. Stetson (replaced by Kenelm Winslow in 1903) and Joseph E. Beals, would oversee the design and construction of the new library building between 1902 and 1904.

Architect Frederick Newland Reed (c. 1870-1916) of New York was engaged by the trustees to provide a suitably impressive design for the library. Reed was a graduate of M. I. T., and his thesis drawings for a proposed hotel were included in the 1891 architectural exhibition sponsored by the Boston Society of Architects and the Boston Architectural Club. By 1894 when he was awarded a $75 PRIZE BY THE Boston Society of Architects, Reed was engaged by Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, architects of Boston and Pittsburgh. In 1899, he was serving as the secretary of the Boston Architectural Club and had a design for a seashore house featured in the architectural exhibition at Boston that year. Reed later opened offices in New York City to which he commuted from Montclair, New Jersey, and he became a member of the Architectural League of New York.

Reed's design called for an imposing Beaux Arts style building measuring 76 by 46 feet with a rear addition of 31 by 41 feet for the stack room. The foundation and steps were to be of granite, basement walls of gray pressed brick and the building walls of a pale pink pressed brick with coordinating terra cotta trim. The main entrance consisted of a highly ornamented pediment supported by two Ionic columns, with the frieze bearing the words "PUBLIC LIBRARY".

Inside, Reed's design for the library conformed remarkably to the then current architectural thinking in America concerning library design. William Fletcher's seminal work in this area, Public Libraries in America(1894), prescribed the optimal library design. "The entrance of a library should be a room with a counter for the drawing of books and should have access to the book room through a gateway in the counter. The librarian's room, with ample space for cataloging, should be placed to communicate with the delivery room and the book room. The reading room should be placed to allow easy oversight by the attendant. It should be well lighted, and there should be an abundance of daylight, if possible mainly from the north and east. Where practicable there should be a fireplace with a slow fire generally burning. The fire on the hearth would do much to make the room attractive."

Reed's Classical Revival interior design clearly provided for the amenities recommended by Fletcher. The library was entered through a marble lined foyer which opened to the main floor which included a sky-lit main lobby with an elaborate coffered ceiling with highly decorative plasterwork, a librarian's room, delivery room, and reading and reference rooms each with their own fireplace.

The first floor rooms were "so arranged as to be as nearly possible under the eye of the librarian." This factor, while certainly convenient for patrons who might require the assistance of the librarian, also permitted the librarian to maintain order in the building, a necessity based upon past experience. In 1889, the attempt to keep the library's reading room in the Town Hall open additional hours without the presence of the librarian was a failure "because of the rudeness of some of the scholars from the public schools, who, finding themselves without restraint, have behaved in such a manner as to oblige the closing of the doors except when the Librarian is in attendance.

The second floor of the library included a room for an art gallery, and a Trustee's room, but perhaps the most critical part of the library, given its history of continually outgrowing the space allotted its collections, was the three-story stack room which was built as a rear projection to the main building and separated from the lobby by the circulation desk. The stack room provided space for housing about 50,000 books and was constructed to accommodate three floors, seven and a half feet above one another. The most distinctive feature of the stack room was its steel and pressed glass floor which allowed light to filter to the basement stacks.

W. H. Wardwell of Brockton was hired as contractor on the project, with masonry work being subcontracted to C. H. Sylvester. Inspector of the works was Winthrop Alexander of Brockton and Boston. Ground for the building was broken in 1902, and the foundation completed by mid-September, 1902, at which time brickwork on the main structure commenced. By November, however, work on the project had to be suspended. "After having the foundation well laid, labor troubles and the approach of winter seemed to make it advisable to suspend the work for the winter," remarked the 1902 Report of the Trustees. The labor difficulties so quickly glossed over in the report of the trustees for 1902, centered upon the bricklayers. "The bricklayers had many grievances and work came to a complete stop when a non-union man was employed who laid one course of bricks ahead of the line, contrary to union rules. The union left the job." Following the walk-out, the unfinished brick walls were covered for the winter. Further compounding the labor issues on the project for the trustees was a notice given by Middleborough carpenters that as of January 1, 1903, they would go to an eight- hour work day "with pay on the nine hour basis already existing."

Construction continued throughout all of 1903, unhampered by the labor trouble that had halted construction in 1902. During the Fourth of July riot in 1903, however, lumber from the building site was pilfered for use in bonfires created about the town center. By November, 1903, the stack room at the rear of the building was nearing completion, and it was reported that "the work on the interior will be finished soon after Jan. 1", 1904. In mid-December, the new metal book stacks were received at the building site and installed.

In preparation for the move to North Main Street, the library's collection was recataloged and rearranged, beginning in June, 1903, under the direction of Miss Mary P. Farr of Philadelphia. At the time, the collection consisted of "about 11,676" books, a substantial number considering that Lakeville's fledgling library at that time had but 150 volumes. Miss Farr was paid an astonishing $982.82 for her cataloging services, more than three times the salary of head librarian Adelaide K. Thatcher. (Mrs. Thatcher did see her salary increase to $450 in 1904 two years prior to her retirement).

Also, additional economies were practiced preparatory to the move, beginning in 1902. "There will be some extra expense in moving into the new building and larger expense of running than in the past. For these reasons we have by practicing careful economy in expenditures, tried to save as much as possible of our appropriation to pay the largely increased expenses we may expect the coming year."

To physically move the library was a large task. Books continued to be loaned from the library in the Town Hall until March 9, 1904, at which time they were called in and the library closed. "Mrs. A. K. Thatcher, librarian of the public library, announces that no books will be given out from the new library building for about two weeks." In fact, the library was closed for a total of seven weeks, allowing the library's collection to be transferred by wagon to its new home where it was reshelved in accordance with Miss Farr's recataloging.

The new public library building was first opened to the public on April 24 for an open house, and on the following day was formally opened for business. Hours were from 2 to 9 pm on weekdays, with the reading room open on Sundays, as well, from 2 to 7 o'clock. However, in case this latter provision might be misunderstood or cause offense, it was announced that "the trustees of the public library wish it distinctly understood that the reading room only in the new building will be open Sundays from 2 to 7. No books will be given out on the Sabbath."

Ironically, in time, the 1904 Reed library building itself would become cramped and outmoded, the library's collection in need of additional space. As a result, the library building was expanded in size in 1991-92 in order to better meet the needs of the community and a growing network of services unconsidered in 1902. While Reed's stack room with its distinctive glass walkways was demolished to make room for the new architecturally-compatible addition by Donald Prout Associates, Architects, the main body of the building was not only preserved, but restored to its original appearance as an architecturally resplendent monument to learning and the generosity of one civic minded individual, acknowledgement of whom was recognized in a plaque which had long hung above the circulation desk for all to see: "The Gift of Thomas Sproat Peirce Erected 1903."

Note:

Local sources typically give architect Reed's first name as "Frederic" though formal records indicate the spelling "Frederick" as used here.

Broadside, 1880.This broadsisde dating from April, 1880, indicates that one of the early sources of funding for the Middleborough Public Library was through benefits such as this one for Mademoiselle Ricard, impersonator. Another source was the monies received from licensing dogs in Middleborough.

Peirce Squash Lot, postcard, early 1900sThe view of the Peirce family's squash lot on the corner of North Main and Peirce Streets dates from just prior to commencement of construction in 1902.

Middleborough Public Library Lobby, postcard, Fred N. Whitman, Middleborough, publisher, early 1900s.So important was the new Middleborough Public Library as a sign of progress within the community considered to be that it was featured on numerous picture postcards in the early 1900s, including this interior view of the building's lobby by Walter L. Beals. The building is perhaps the best visually documented Middleborough structure of the era.

Middleborough Public Library Stack Room, photograph, 1904.This photograph dates from immediately following completion of the library in 1904 and depicts the ground floor entrance of the distinctive three-story stack room with its metal shelving and pressed glass floors.

Middleorough Public Library construction site, 1902.Foundation work is nearing completion in this view taken late in the year in 1902. Shortly afterwards, union brick-layers engaged to construct the library's walls struck when a non-union man violated their rules.

Cataloging, Middleborough Public Library, Middleborough Town Hall, photograph, c. 1903-04.In preparation for the relocation of the library from Middleborough Town Hall to its new home on North Main Street, the entire collection was recataloged, a process captured in this photograph. The cramped quarters of the library's town hall home can be seen. Walter L. Beals, "father of the Middleborough Public Library" and an active library trustee, stands at the left rear and observes the work.

Middleborough Public Library, North Main Street, Middleborough, MA, photograph, early 1900s.The view probably dates from just a short time following the building's 1904 completion.

Click here to read Betty Brown's history of the Middleborough Public Library.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Middleboro' Shovel Company advertisements. Top, mid-1870s.Bottom, 1874, from The Boston Directory Embracing the City Record,A General Directory of Citizens and Business Directory. No. LXX. Forthe Year Commencing July 1, 1874. (Boston: Sampson, Davenport,and Company, 1874).

Organized in the early 1870s, the Middleboro' Shovel Company operated for a short period of time as the successor firm of N. B. Sherman and Company. Though shovels were produced at the Upper Factory in Middleborough (now the site of the Thomas Memorial Park), the offices of the firm were maintained at 63 Oliver Street in Boston. Much of the success of the firm was attributable to George Richardson who was responsible for the redesign of a popular shovel produced by the company, and his name appears prominently in advertisements placed by the company throughout the mid-1870s. The Middleboro' Shovel Company operated until 1877 in which year it was forced to file for bankruptcy.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

One hundred years ago, Middleborough experienced an extended heatwave and drought, then one of the most severe on record.

July 3, 1911, was reported as the hottest day for many years with the temperature hitting “101 in the shade at the postoffice at noon.”

Masons who were at work on the stonework of cellars here had to give up.Farmers in South Middleboro and the Green neighborhood quit the hayfields early [on the morning of the 4th], the horses and men not being able to stand the rising heat from the newly mown hay…. The railroad sectionmen suffered greatly and finally had to give up work.

Local cranberry bogs were seared from the combination of excessive heat and a lack of rain, and cranberry growers held all water possible in reserve in their reservoirs.Fears were widespread that much expensive crop and timberland would be destroyed were a fire to start.

Fires, in fact, did start.“During the intense noonday heat” on July 3, a fire was discovered in the woods between Plymouth and Plympton Streets east of the Nemasket railroad station at the Green.“Available men in the village were summoned by the sectionmen.They fought the fire for three hours, finally extinguishing it.”The house of Edward Buchanan was threatened, but saved by a last minute change in the wind direction which pushed the fire into the MeetinghouseSwamp.

While men were busily engaged fighting the Green fire, elsewhere in Middleborough in possible in preparation for festivities on the fourth, Middleborough police cracked down upon the illicit sale of alcohol, which some may have sought as a relief from the heat.Chief of Police Harry Swift and his men seized a number of packages containing illegal alcohol which were being shipped by the Eagle Express Company at Middleborough.“The chief claims that there were several packages of liquor wrapped up and marked to the name of the owner but that the collection of packages was placed inside a large hamper which was locked and not marked on the outside as to the nature of the contents.”

The heat continued through the middle of the month, causing the death of 69-year-old Sarah W. Howes at her Center Street home.“She was found on the floor and had expired about an hour before found.”

Without rain, local woodlands remained tinder dry.A more serious woods fire was started near Tispaquin Pond July 15, and was attributed to a careless smoker who had been blueberrying.The blaze, fueled by the dry woods, spread rapidly northeastwards towards Thomastown, “endangering the residences of Charles Taggard, Josiah Thomas, Joseph Thomas, Benjamin Hathaway and others.”Though the fire was believed to have been brought under control on the afternoon of the 15th, the following day a gang of firefighters was called out to fight the fire which was once more out of hand.The men remained at work all through the night, and the fire was forced underground where it burned into the peat.The potential for a long-burning fire was high, “unless there is a drenching rain to extinguish it”.Watch was kept on the fire which continued to burn underground for a number of days, and though it failed to break out, it spread towards a valuable woodlot owned by Joseph Thomas near the intersection of Purchase and Chestnut Streets.The fire was not brought fully under control until the end of the month.Before it was extinguished, it destroyed some $5,000 worth of standing and cut timber with Charles Taggard and Josiah Thomas being the biggest losers

Given the cause of the fire, woodlot owners throughout Middleborough not surprisingly posted no trespassing signs on their properties.

Especially is this true of the huckleberry patches, and some farmers threaten to prosecute anyone gathering berries on their land.The reason is the prevalence of woodland fires.The berry pickers, the land owners believe, smoke in the woods and swamps, and occasionally a fire starts from it.

Though heavy rains finally came towards mid-month, they had very little effect, and it was noted on July 25th that “even the heavy rains do not appear to revive vegetation to any marked degree.”

Great fields of grass are burned brown, and it is improbable that there will be a second crop off the land this year.Garden truck is short, and prices are accordingly high.

Based upon the failure of a large portion of the vegetable crop, the prospect for the fall’s cranberry crop was bleak.Ironically, hopes for a high yield for 1911 had initially been high.The cranberry crop had escaped the June frosts which in some years previous had plagued growers.The drought and hot weather, however, dashed these prospects, and growers by July were estimating that half the crop would be lost.

Blossoms which were plentiful withered and came to naught, it is said, on account of the terrible heat, and some bogs look like a red blanket, where the sun burned them.This was on “dry bogs,” which have no water flowage facilities.”

Such dry weather had not been recalled by most within living memory in either Middleborough or Lakeville.Percy Robbins of Lakeville who formerly required rubber boots in order to mow his fresh meadow was able to do so in just a pair of sneakers, so dry had it become.One local tradition in Lakeville held that “hay was never cut, made and gathered into the barns unless nature sent a rousing rainstorm to wet it.The countryside says that for 20 years or more the hay has always got a wetting, but this year it was cut and harvested without a drenching.”

Finally, the heatwave and dry spell broke at the end of July, when a series of storms passed through the region.One violent storm on July 28 carried high winds which blew off a portion of the tin roof of the Peirce Block at the corner of Center and North Main Streets.Fortunately there was no one in the street below at the time, as the torrential rain had driven everyone indoors.

Illustration:

Original photograph courtesy of busymonster. Republished under a Creative Commons license.

Sources:

Brockton Enterprise, "Fought Fire Three Hours", July 3, 1911; "Seize Liquor at Middleboro", July 3, 1911; "Quit Work at Middleboro", July 4, 1911; "Expires from the Heat", July 13, 1911; "Middleboro", July 17, 1911; ibid., July 19, 1911; ibid., July 20, 1911; ibid., July 23, 1911; ibid., July 25, 1911; "Half a Cranberry Crop", July 26, 1911; "Roof Off in Middleboro", July 29, 1911

Saturday, July 2, 2011

THE APPEARANCE OF a slim, privately-printed pamphlet in Middleborough in 1853 received little notice, despite its relative rarity.It was a first-hand account of a common soldier’s experience in the Revolutionary War.Had Samuel Smith of South Middleborough not been noted at the time of his death July 7, 1854, for authoring his Memoirs of Samuel Smith: A Soldier of the Revolution 1778-1788, he most assuredly would have been recognized for his longevity, living to the age of 95 – a remarkable feat at that time.The elderly Smith’s avowed purpose in recording his recollections as a member of the Rhode Island regiment was to inform his friends of his earlier trials nearly three-quarters of a century earlier and to provide a small token to those who might give him financial assistance in his old age.

The work was printed by the Namasket Gazette of Middleborough which engaged in job printing work and appeared with little fanfare, eventually finding its way to the attention of Charles I. Bushnell a lawyer and numismatist with an avocation for Revolutionary history whose role in republishing a number of original accounts of the war undoubtedly rescued a number of them from oblivion and preserved them for posterity.Among the items which came to Bushnell was Smith’s Memoirs which Bushnell had republishedat New York in 1860, and had included four years later in a compendium with similar accounts which he published in 1864.Unfortunately since that time, Smith’s account has languished and is little known to either Revolutionary scholars or Middleborough residents.

And though as a first-hand account of the Revolutionary War, Smith’s Memoirs were a novelty, such accounts were not entirely unknown. Memoirs of Tarleton Brown, A Captain in the Revolutionary Army, Written by Himself, shared a very similar origin with those of Smith.In 1843, the then 88-year-old South Carolinian Tarleton (1757-1845) was “persuaded that a few hints in relation to the scenes in which I have bore a part, in that glorious and memorable struggle for Independence would not be unacceptable to my friends and the general reader” and so dictated his recollections to his granddaughter’s husband which were published by the Charleston Rambler.Again, like Smith’s, Tarleton’s reminiscences were destined for likely obscurity had they not been brought to wider attention through the agency of Bushnell who had them republished in 1862 whereupon they received greater notice.Other accounts written in a similar vein to those of both Smith and Tarleton included The Revolutionary Adventures of Ebenezer Fox, of Roxbury, Massachusetts (Boston: Munroe and Francis, 1838), The Narrative of Ebenezer Fletcher, A Soldier of the Revolution (Bushnell ed.: 1866), The Narrative of John Blatchford Detailing his Sufferings in the Revolutionary War, Narrative of Major Abraham Leggett of the Army of the Revolution (Bushnell ed. NY: 1865), Journal of Solomon Nash, a Soldier of the Revolution 1776-1777 (Bushnell ed. NY:1861), A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Levi Hanford, a Soldier of the Revolution, and Journal of the Expedition Against Quebec, under Col. Benedict Arnold, in the year, 1775 by Maj. Return J. Meigs

Samuel Smith gravestone, South

Middleborough Cemetery,

Middleborough, MA, photograph

by Michael J. Maddigan, April 25,

2007.

Smith makes little comment upon his life subsequent to the war, and information regarding it is somewhat scant.Following the war, he settled at South Middleborough, an outlying village of the town of Middleborough in Southeastern Massachusetts, setting down roots among other Smith families, though it was noted at the time of his death that he was “not of our Smiths.”.At South Middleborough, Smith married Hope Doten (1765-1849), daughter of James and Elizabeth (Kempton) Doten of South Middleborough and raised a family of at least four children.

Smith resided at various locations at South Middleborough, including the former parsonage of the Third Baptist Church of Middleborough where he is recorded as living in 1824.It is likely that the parsonage was Smith’s original South Middleborough home, having been abandoned by the church when it relocated to Rock in the very late 1700s.Establishment of the Reformed Methodist Society at South Middleborough in the 1820s, however, probably prompted the relocation of the Smiths so that the parsonage could once more be used for ministerial purposes, and it seems likely that the Smiths relocated at that time to the Maxim House further south on Spruce Street which had been acquired by Smith’s son, Chandler R. Smith in 1823.In 1835, Chandler Smith provided his parents a life estate in the Maxim House which is the home most frequently associated with Smith and undoubtedly the scene where his memoirs were prepared.Today known as the Smith-Wallen-Ryder House (the Wallens and Ryders being descendants of Smith), the Cape-style house has been restored.

Throughout his residence at South Middleborough, Smith was engaged in farming as were most of his neighbors, though he appears to have been instrumental in helping establish his son, Chandler R. as a local merchant.At the corner of Spruce and Locust Streets, Chandler R. Smith about 1848 had “a Store or House built for the express purpose of keeping and selling therein to the people in the vicinity goods of such kinds as are usually kept and sold in stores in country places.”Middleborough store.

Chandler R. Smith would become a recognizable merchant within South Middleborough and it was undoubtedly upon the basis of his son’s success, as well as his venerable old-age that Samuel Smith would come to be addressed within the community as “Governor” in his later years.

One story which has come down to us regarding Samuel Smith records his opposition to the arrival of the Cape Cod Branch railroad in 1848 which bisected the Smith family property at South Middleborough.Vehemently opposed to the railroad on these grounds, an elderly Smith stood upon the tracks to block the path of the locomotive.Only upon threat of being run down by an unsympathetic engineer did Smith relent and forgo his obstructionist campaign.Though it is said that Smith ultimately recognized the benefits which the railroad brought to the community, the tale is indicative of the hardy and determined character of the man who sixty years earlier had served his new country with a similar fortitude.

Throughout his life, Smith remained an ardent patriot, attending annual July 4th celebrations at New Bedford.It is perhaps therefore fitting that he survived to witness one last Independence Day, passing away just a few days following on July 7, 1854.

THE TEXT OF THE FOLLOWING MEMOIRS has been prepared from an original 1853 copy of Smith’s Memoirs in the collection of the Middleborough Historical Association.The small pamphlet measuring with an umber-colored paper cover is one of the few known copies to survive.

Preface to the 1860 Bushnell Edition

THE FOLLOWING WORK was originally published in Middleborough, Mass., in the year 1853, and the very small edition that was printed was chiefly circulated by the Author among such inhabitants of that town as had befriended him, or of whom he solicited alms.

Though but the memoirs of a private soldier, and of unpretending character, yet it is one of several similar ones extant, showing the trials undergone and the privations and sufferings endured by our ancestors in their noble contest for freedom. Samuel Smith, the author of the Memoirs, was for several years in the habit of annually visiting the city of New Bedford, and participating in the municipal celebrations on the Fourth of July. At the visit he made preceding his death, his mind was still unimpaired, and he was in the full possession of his physical strength.He died in the town of Middleborough, on Friday, July 7th, 1854, in the 95th year of his age.

CHARLES I. BUSHNELL

Introduction

I HAVE CONTEMPLATED for several years, placing before the American people, a few pages detailing some of the many incidents of my early life, my birth, parentage, and entrance into the army of the American Revolution, in 1776, &c., &c. Hoping that a recital of those labors, hardships, sufferings and trials may be kindly received by my fellow- countrymen, with a hearty response to the demand which I make upon them, namely : a perusal of these few pages, and the payment solicited for the same.

SAMUEL SMITH.

Middleboro, Mass., May, 1853.

MEMOIRS.

I was born in Smithfield, in Rhode Island, on the 13th of June, A.D. 1759, of humble, creditable parents. My early education was exceedingly limited, never having attended school but two winters, and in that time barely learned to read some easy lessons without spelling, and to write the letters of the alphabet with a copy.

When eight years old, I was afflicted with a fever sore, which entirely disabled me for a year, and prevented my ever having full use of my right arm.

My mother died when I was about thirteen years old, and I was taken into the family of a friendly man, with whom I remained one year, receiving as a compensation for my work, necessary clothing and board. At the expiration of that time, I went to live with a bachelor, agreeing to stay three years, as at the former place, namely, for victuals and clothes. After being with him one and a half years, I was, like many foolish boys, enticed away by a stranger, and told by him that he would do better by me than the person with whom I then resided that he wished me to drive team, &c. In consequence of this flattery and deception, I ran away from the bachelor, and joined my new acquaintance.

In three weeks, however, I returned, and begged the privilege of staying, which was granted.

At the expiration of three years, I hired myself again to him one year, for necessary clothing and twelve dollars. The next year I was paid fifteen dollars and clothes; then my master relinquished house-keeping, and I was again destitute of a home. My parents being both dead, I was in a lonely condition, but was kindly cared for, and during a long illness which now prostrated me, carefully watched over by a widow, who was, indeed, to me like a “guardian angel.”She also read and explained to me many passages of Scripture, which I did not before understand, and could not read for myself.

Soon after I regained my strength, there was a call for soldiers to go to Bristol, and many were drafted to go there. I was hired for one month to take a soldier’s place. When that time expired, I enlisted for three months, and when that time was served, I again enlisted in the Continental Army, but was never mustered as a soldier, on account of my right arm being shorter than my left.

About this time a small party of recruits were detached from the forces at Bristol, to join the main army.I was one of the number. We joined the main army in the Highlands, on the east side of Hudson River, opposite Stony Point.

Soon after we joined the main army, Major Andre was brought into camp, and continued in the regiment till he was hung.From the Highlands we marched to “Red Bank” where we had a severe battle with the Hessians.

In this engagement they attempted several times to storm our fort, there being seven times as many Hessians as our number. They were, however, compelled to retreat. In this engagement we had one captain, one fife major, and five privates killed. Two of the privates were shot down, one on my right and the other on my left hand.

The night following the battle we were all on duty, either in scouting parties or on trails. It fell to my lot to go with a party on trail, and in going about half gun shot from the fort we found Count Dunop wounded and concealed behind a pine, attended by his two waiters.We took him and carried him into the fort. He lived but a short time and died of his wounds, having been shot through the knees with small grape-shot. The next day the whole regiment was employed, except those on guard and on scouting parties, in digging a trench and burying the dead. Here we buried between four and five hundred ; so many Hessians having fallen in the engagement.

Having buried the dead, we hung three spies one white man and two negroes. The white man confessed that he had taken pay of the British, (a tankard full of guineas,) for conducting Hessians to Red Bank.

Soon after this action the British shipping came up opposite a mud fort which we had built, and another action commenced. We succeeded, soon after the action commenced, in firing a red hot shot into one of their ships, the Roebuck, a ship of seventy-four guns, which connecting with her magazine, blew her up.

Sometime in November, 1776, we were obliged to leave Red Bank on account of the cold, and we marched to Valley Forge, and again joined the main army being at this time nearly destitute of clothing, except what we secured in the Hessian fight. We stopped, however, sometime in the mountains, till we could procure provisions. We there visited a hermit, who was one of the oldest settlers, having lived forty miles in the wild wilderness for fifty years. As the regiment was passing the cabin of the hermit, the column halted, and there was liberty given for all to visit it. It was a nice cabin, furnished with furs and skins, A nice smooth bench set outside the door. About two rods from this cabin, to the right hand as we came out, stood a very large tree, with smooth bark, resembling poplar. On this tree was nicely pictured a warrior s face. There were days while we were on our march to Valley Forge, for winter quarters, that we were entirely destitute of food, sometimes two days at a time. On our march we came to a valley, which abounded with black walnuts and butternuts, where we tarried two days. We then continued our march till we came to the SchuylkillRiver. There we laid down to rest on our arms, with nothing but the broad canopy of heaven to cover us.That night the snow fell about half a foot deep. Some had blankets and slept upon the frozen ground and covered themselves with them, while others had none, and slept entirely unprotected from the weather. We staid at this place two days. The second day, in the morning, we discovered near the camp a large flock of goats, which were taken, butchered and devoured to satisfy hunger. After two days we unloaded the baggage wagons, and hauled them into the river to make a bridge on which the regiment crossed. On the next march we suffered extremely, our feet being wet, and being compelled to travel on the wet, frozen ground, ice and snow. Those who had blankets cut off the corners arid wound them round their feet. Others who had none, secured rags and the like, or anything of the kind which had been thrown from the houses on the road on which we marched, and blood from our feet might be traced on the ground. We finally reached Valley Forge, our winter head-quarters, the forepart of January, 1777. Here I built a hut, and soon after finishing it, was taken sick, and was blind for about ten days. We remained at Valley Forge till sometime in June. Then we went out of our winter quarters into the fields with our tents, and marched from post to post till we met the British at Springfield, Penn., where we had a smart engagement, lasting for nearly two hours.* There being of us but a small brigade to contend against the whole British army, we were obliged for a time, in this action to retreat, and a company was detached from our brigade, in a flanking party, and attacked the British right flank opposite General Arnold s, the traitor.

We contended in this engagement nearly an hour, until in fact the British had nearly surrendered to us, when we were obliged to retreat a short distance on a height of ground and took shelter, first in an orchard and from thence we retreated to an oak grove. Here we had the advantage of them. Our captain now ordered every man to shelter himself by standing behind a tree. In this engagement there was not a man on the American side killed or wounded except one captain, who received a shot through the left arm ; a flesh wound.The next day after the battle, we were employed in burying the dead in the burying ground, and conveying the wounded to the hospital. I was selected with others to go to the hospital and attend the wounded. Much of my time while there was employed in attending and waiting on the doctor, having the care of his box of instruments. While there I saw a great many legs and arms cut off. I was continued in this occupation at the hospital, until the spring of It 78, when I joined my regiment again.

While I was at the hospital I was under the command of the doctor, and I waited on him until he left the army, which was in the fall of the year 1778. The name of the doctor was Elias Cornelius.

I believe him to have been a Christian, as he regularly attended meetings on Sundays, He was a Baptist by profession. When he went to church he always took me with him, as he wished me well. He also instructed me in the ways of righteousness. When he left the army I lost the company of my best friend. He returned from Springfield to his home in the city of New York.After the British took possession of New York, he was obliged to leave the city, he being a true Republican.His father and relatives were Tories. The last knowledge I had of him, he resided at Robinson Mills, in the State of New York, and the last time I saw him he was on a visit to Providence, two years after he left the army, when we took a final leave of each other. He entreated me to persevere in serving the Lord, that we might meet in a better world.

Nothing material occurred until the next June, when the battle of Monmouth was fought. The day on which this battle was fought, was the hottest, I think, that I ever experienced. In fact, the heat was so excessive that I could not tell by which the most died, whether by the heat or the balls.

In two days after this hot battle, the brigade was ordered to march to Rhode Island. (t.) We arrived on the Island just previous to the tremendous hurricane and rain storm, We had not pitched our tents. I found, however, a large hogshead, knocked in at one end, and got into it for shelter, Soon after the storm, an action took place. In this action the Americans were obliged to retreat. It so happened that it brought the Rhode Island brigade in the rear. Boats were employed all night in carrying off baggage and troops, About sun rise it came our turn to fight, and we descended upon a party of British at the fort on Butts Hill. The British scaled the walls on one side, while the Americans entered the gate.

We drove the British completely from the fort, dismounted and spiked their cannon, and then hastened to the boats which were waiting for us, and retreated from the Island.

Soon after, the drafted men were discharged, and we marched to Warren for winter headquarters. The soldiers called for pay, They had had promises of pay for one month in the new emission money. The money was retained by our officers, and we marched to Providence to see the General and get redress, which he promised we should have, and told our commander whenever we wanted redress, to write him, and he would endeavor that we should have it, so we all again submitted, and resigned ourselves to the orders of our old officers.

In the course of the winter of 1778, many of the regiment to which I belonged were taken to go on ship board, to run down the river to attack and take the British shipping which lay there. The ship that I went on board of had two cannons Our orders were to run along side of the British shipping, board, and take them.

I believe it was a happy incident to us that our captain run the ship aground on Pawtucket Flats, for thus ended this expedition. We then returned to our barracks at Warren, where we remained until the spring of the year 1779, when we were marched to Boston Neck.

Our payment for services being unnecessarily detained, we all agreed to have a letter formed, setting forth our grievances, and sent to our General. The letter was made and handed to the Colonel to forward to the General, The Colonel refused to have the letter sent, and took the bearer of it and sent him in irons to jail, He then had him tried by a Court Martial, and sentenced to be hung in rive days. Three days after the sentence, all attended as usual at the calling of the roll. After the roll was called we were dismissed for the day. When the officers had retired, we agreed upon our plan to liberate the prisoner. Every soldier fixed his bayonet on his gun for the purpose of rescuing the brother soldier who was condemned to be hung. The drums beat the long roll as a signal. Every soldier was on parade, with his gun loaded and his bayonet affixed, We were determined to rescue the prisoner, who was innocent of any crime on behalf of his fellow soldiers. We were determined to a man to lose our lives or rescue our brother.

There were but two officers in the regiment who would allow soldiers to converse with our head commander, for the purpose of settling questions in dispute. On we marched, agreed that fifteen only should be allowed to settle the affair. Meeting General Sullivan, he ordered us to halt, but we marched steadily on. Our old Major, whom we always and at all times authorized to speak to our Commander to settle questions and restore peace, rode in front of our ranks and wished us to halt, as Gen. Sullivan came to settle the disorder and to restore peace.

We agreed to halt on condition that the officers should get in front, under the muzzles of our guns. These conditions were quickly complied with. The first request of the General was for us to lay down our arms. He said he could not converse with soldiers under arms.We positively refused to accede to his request, and we all stood with our guns to our shoulders, loaded and bayonets affixed.

The above took place in the road on a low piece of land. A small island was opposite the place where we halted. The General wanted us to march on the island.We complied with his request. When we had marched on the island, he wanted we should stack our arms.Our leader told the General that our arms would remain in each man’s hands until the treaty which we demanded was agreed upon. The General said he could not agree with soldiers upon anything while they were under arms. Then our leader told him he should march for the condemned man. The General told him that he had one black regiment in the fort, which we had to pass, who would cut us to pieces. The answer from our leader was: “We do not fear you, with all your black boys ! The prisoner we will have, at the risk of our lives!”

The General then agreed that if we would march back, under order to our former officers, he would send the prisoner to the camp. This our leader refused to do, telling the General that he had marched his men there on conditions, and that he would march them back again if he would immediately deliver up the prisoner, and pledge his honor that there should be no one confined or tried in Court Martial for the same offence. It was apparently hard for the General to agree to it, but at last he complied with the terms and sent an officer for the prisoner, who was soon brought and delivered to us.

We then marched to our old encampment with our comrade in the centre, and colors flying in his hands, and resigned ourselves to our old officers.

We remained in our encampment until the British evacuated Rhode Island, when we took possession of it.We remained here until we had orders to march southward.

The first march we made was to Hartford, Conn., where we staid but a day or two, when we marched to Philadelphia, Penn., where we encamped a week or more, waiting for further orders and for the baggage to come up. We then marched to the head of Elk River, and took boats and went down the river to Little York.Then came on a squall, and being in flat bottom boats, all landed on an island nearly opposite Little York, in the centre of the British forces. The enemy might have taken with ease the whole of the American troops which were there quartered, and all our bag-gage, had they dared to have attacked us. One British boat landed about a mile from our encampment, and sent out spies who fled before we could come up with them. It being a pleasant day we took to our boats and sailed by them.

The next march we made was to Yorktown, where we encamped within half cannon shot of the British, and commenced a fortification by digging a trench, or rather by each man digging a hole deep enough to drop into. When this was accomplished, we stationed a man to watch the enemy s guns, at which every man dropped into his hole. But we soon left this ground, and in the night stormed two of their fortifications, and dug a trench all round the British encampment, completely yarding them in.

Two nights after the storming of the fortifications, the British undertook to retake them, and mustering out a small party calling themselves Americans, came up in the rear of us. They entered the fort with but little difficulty, as there were but few of us in it, and very quickly those who were not instantly killed or taken, were driven out of it.

Four days from that time Lord Cornwallis surrendered,and in three days from the time Cornwallis surrendered, the British marched out on the plains, and stacked their arms and resigned and surrendered themselves prisoners of war, and each marched into town again.The Americans followed them. In three weeks from the time the British surrendered, we took their shipping.

Forty of the prisoners we took from their ships had a disorder with which our doctor was not acquainted. Its appearance was sudden. Some would fall down on the deck and froth like a mad dog ; others would begin to draw their heads down till their heels and head would touch together. An American of my acquaintance, who, to my certain knowledge, had been exposed repeatedly to the small pox for six years, caught it on board the British shipping and died.

From YorkTown we marched to Saratoga, a long and tedious march, where we made our headquarters until the spring of 1783.

In the winter, after the lakes had frozen up, we went to storm a fort on the frontier. Our army was conveyed in stages. In crossing Niagara River on the ice, just above the Falls, one stage containing six men and the driver, slipped sideways into the river, and was carried over the Falls and lost.

We passed over across the Lake to a piece of swampy land, where the stages left us and returned home. We staid here two nights and a part of two days, when we learned by our spies, that the British had reinforced their fort with double the number of men they had before, and it becoming more than five degrees colder than when we started from Saratoga to cross the Lakes a number of men having frozen to death, and a great part of the regiment being more or less frozen but little regard was paid to the command of the officers, as every man did the best he could to protect himself from the cold. Sleighs were procured and furnished by the inhabitants, to carry the troops back to Saratoga. We remained at Saratoga until the latter part of the month of May, 1783, when the greater part of the regiment was disbanded by companies. Some of the companies were marched to Providence before their discharge was given them.

I was selected to drive the Colonel’s baggage to Providence, under command of a lieutenant and a small guard, and then discharged without money or clothes. I went to a place to board, but having no money to pay, the person with whom I boarded set me to driving trucks. The business he was in was small, and he entered into company with Samuel Bagley. I was finally hired to drive a baggage wagon from Providence to Boston. They agreed to give me one-third of the profits for driving, I to find myself. Bagley was agent, and about six months after I commenced driving, he sold what little property he had and ran away with the money. In consequence of this, I lost the whole of my earnings.

I then shipped on board a brig, which was bound to the coast of Brazil, on a whaling voyage. We were gone nine months and seventeen days. We killed only five whales, which made sixty barrels each, (300). I lost my time, and was in debt for fitting out. In four days after my arrival home, I shipped for the West Indies, in a brig commanded by Capt. Seth Wheaton. Here I began a wickedness beyond every thing I had done before. In those days sailors were addicted to drinking and swearing. I contracted the habit of swearing, but not that of drinking, and did not follow all the sailors practices, being careful of the company I kept.

The voyage was long and tedious, as the captain chartered his brig to a merchant in New York to go to TurksIsland and load with salt. After we had arrived at Mooner Passage, we attempted to go through a narrow place, and the wind being ahead we had a very narrow escape.

After we got to sea, we were very scant of provisions, calculating to obtain supplies at TurksIsland. Being eighteen days from Curago, we were nearly destitute of bread and water, and four days previous to arriving at TurksIsland, were obliged to come on an allowance of half a pint of water and half a biscuit a day. We were, however, at this point, nearly in sight of Port au Prince, but did not dare to go on shore with our boats. When we came so nigh to land that we could go on shore and return in five hours, our boat was hoist ed out, and the captain, merchant, three sailors and myself, left the vessel about 7 o clock, A. M., and pulled for the shore till 3 o clock, P. M., and reached the land.The captain and merchant went in pursuit of provisions; the rest were left with me to take care of the boat.Very soon after we landed, a negro came to the boat with bananas, plantains and oranges to sell. We purchased enough to make a good meal. The captain and merchant soon returned with a supply of provisions, which were brought to the boat by negroes. At five o clock, P. M., we pulled again for the brig. The light which we left burning in the morning and hanging in the shrouds, the mate put out after dark, and the wind blowing in shore, we made sail and run for the harbor.

A man-of-war, not finding the captain, and only the mate, two hands and one passenger on board, and taking her to be a pirate, brought the brig under his stern.When the light was put out, we put the boat about for the shore, it being exceedingly dark, and we had no compass. We again reached the land, and passed the remainder of the night in the small village where we had obtained our supplies. The next morning the brig was not to be seen, and we had to take to our boat again, and row across the bay, sixty miles to the harbor. We pulled all day, and at sunset were barely in sight of the shipping. When it became so dark that we could not discern the shipping, the captain selected a star in the horizon, and thus we reached the harbor about ten o clock.As we approached the shipping, our boat was hailed by the sentinel of the man-of-war and ordered along side. Our captain was ordered on board, but in a short time was liberated, with provisions and water, to go on board of his own vessel.

We staid in port about two weeks till the merchant had taken his cargo, and then sailed for New York, where we arrived in ten days ; discharged our cargo, and then sailed for Providence. On our passage down the Sound we experienced a heavy gale, and being in light ballast, were forced to make the nearest harbor, which was a cove on Long Island, where we laid for four days. Then we sailed out into the Sound, and it becoming perfectly calm, were floated about for four days longer, not making headway enough for steerage, being driven backwards and forwards with the tide. This was in the latter part of December, 1785, and the weather was piercing cold. After we had been becalmed four days, the wind blew a heavy gale, and we ran into New London, where we laid five days. On the sixth day, the weather proving favorable, we sailed again for Providence. The wind hauling to the east ward, began again to blow, and we steered for a small harbor on Long Island, where we staid three days.Again we sailed and arrived at Newport. The next day we sailed for Providence, and after contending and forcing our way through the ice, arrived three miles below the town in twenty-one days from New York.

Arriving in Providence, I went to my old boardinghouse and staid three days, when I shipped and went on board of a sloop bound to the West Indies. The crew consisted of captain, mate and four hands all drunkards except a lad of about eighteen years and myself.We had on board ten oxen.

We cleared from Providence in the morning, in a rain storm. By nine, P. M., Block Island was two leagues astern of us, and all hands below, drunk. It was blowing a heavy gale, arid I had been placed at the helm before leaving the land. It became dark, and not knowing the bearings of Nantucket Shoals, neither had I time to look in any book or on any chart to ascertain.I placed the lad at the helm while I went into the steerage and took the stopples out of the kegs of rum and let it run out on the floor. The two hands came on deck the next morning sober and continued so till our arrival at the West Indies. The captain and mate kept half drunk the whole voyage. They were not even capable of managing the vessel, or of discharging or loading.The mate staid on board a sloop loading with sugar. while we were loading. When we hauled out into deep water to sail for home, the captain was hardly capable of giving orders. At five o clock, P. M., he gave me the charge of the vessel, calling all hands and ordering them to obey my orders the same as if I were the captain, and then went below. About eight o clock the next morning he again made his appearance on deck, ordered the boat alongside, and then two hands to row him on shore.It being Sunday I kept all hands on board Monday morning the captain came on board in a negro boat, and gave all hands liberty to go on shore to spend the day.

We staid in port two weeks, loaded with cotton and sugar, and cleared for Providence. We had a very pleasant voyage home, except with our captain and mate, who were very cross and ugly. The captain and myself had a few words one day, and I informed him that I knew my duty as a seaman. He ever after on the voyage, appeared to owe me a grudge. A few days out, our studding sail halyards gave way at the end of the boom where it was rigged out at the end of the yard.The captain called upon me to go aloft and reef the halyards. There was no foot rope to rest the feet upon, but I had to crawl out on the yard with the halyards in my hand.When I had got about half way out, the captain sung out with an oath: “Now fall overboard, and I will pick you up when I come this way again.”I was obliged to cling to the spar to the utmost of my strength, and had it not been for the stillness of the wind and the smoothness of the sea, should have fallen off.

We had a moderate breeze on our passage home till we made Block Island. The wind being to the north we could not run to Rhode Island, but anchored off Stonington, where we remained three days. In weighing anchor, we did not get it to the cat-head as quick as the captain wished, he (being so intoxicated he did not know what he wanted,) began to curse and swear, directing foul language towards me, saying were he nigh some desolate island, I should starve to death. I in formed him that I had ever done my duty as a faithful seaman, and obeyed all his commands. He frequently quarreled with the mate and all hands. I sailed the vessel from our anchorage in Stonington to Providence. About half way from Newport to Providence, I called the captain, he having slept his nap out.

Having discharged the cargo, I called for my pay, which was six dollars a month, and the captain offered me a kind of paper currency which the State had issued as a cheat. I refused this currency. He declared I should take that or nothing. I lost my wages.

Next day I visited a brother, five miles in the country, whom I found ploughing, it being a very warm time in the spring of 1786.

Upon revisiting Boston, I shipped on board a Plymouth packet. Subsequently I sailed on another voyage to the West Indies, and upon returning from which I came to Middleboro , where I have resided for about thirty-seven years, with a less varied life than that which is recounted in the foregoing pages, and from which place this little work is submitted. Having touched in these few pages, on some of the incidents of my younger years, I most humbly beg to arrest your attention one moment longer.

FELLOW COUNTRYMEN : I need not tell you that I have seen the British guns fired in anger, or that these lungs which now but feebly respire the vital air of heaven, have been suffocated with the smoke of British powder.I need not tell you that those dim eyes have guided, or that those now palsied limbs have directed the American ordnance, when your country groaned, and Americans bled by the cruel oppression of Britain. I need not tell you that these ears have been stunned by the thunder of the cannon, the clashing of steel, and rattle of musketry, or even that I have lived, not only in the days but with our beloved Washington, the father of his country ! No ! it is not to impose upon you self-praise, or to arouse your passions by a recital of any exertions of my own, in behalf of the American Revolution, or even again to revert to those times which tried men s souls, but merely to say, gentlemen, I am an old man a very old man more than four-score years and ten, and stand nigh the borders of the grave! I can speak to you but a short time longer. Hear me for my cause!

Should our country, in your time, be invaded by a foreign foe, and you be called to act the part of men American born men may you enter the field, and should it be ordered and ordained that your bones should bleach in the soil of your country, like those who fell in the American Revolution - may you say - “Let justice be done, though the heavens should fall.”

Notes

Samuel SmithSmith was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, the son of Benjamin and Abigail (Walling) Smith who were married at Smithfield, November 13, 1752, by William Arnold, Justice. The couple appears to have had but three children: Chloe born June 2, 1754; Enos born March 20, 1757; and Samuel born June 13, 1759. Smith describes his parents as "humble", perhaps a euphemism for poor. Following his mother's death about 1772, Smith appears to have been "bound out", a common practice by those unable to support family members. Smith replaced another soldier, a common practice through the mid-nineteenth century when drafted men could pay money to another to replace them. It is likely that Smith joined the Second Rhode Island Regiment which was formed at this time.

Major John André

Major John André was a British spy hung October 2, 1780 for complicity in the attempted surrender of West Point by Benedict Arnold.Clearly, Smith has confused the timing of the episode.Bushnell simply notes that “the reader will perceive that the author is guilty of several anachronisms in the course of his narrative.”Andre was not captured until 1780, some four years following Smith’s presence at Stony Point.

Battle of Springfield, PennsylvaniaThis battle did not take place until June 23, 1780 - another anachronism in Smith's memoirs.

Battle of Red Bank, Delaware River south of Philadelphia, October-November, 1777Following the occupation of Philadelphia, the British sought to secure control of the Delaware River without which their control of the city would remain untenable. Recognizing this, the Americans moved to block the river below the city. An anonymous British diarist from the time recorded that "the rebels have endeavoured with vast labour and expense to stop up the navigation of the Delaware River by sinking several ranges of a kind of cheavaux de fries across the channel, to prevent our fleet from getting up to the city." The obstructions were placed between Red Bank on the New Jersey shore where the Continentals had established a rudimentary fort known as Fort Mercer, and an island in the river upon which the somewhat more substantial For Mifflin was raised. In an effort to reduce Fort Mercer, British General Howe despatched a force of 2,000 Hessian troops under General Count Carl Emil Kurt von Donop. On October 22, 1777, Americans led by Christopher Greene of Rhode Island repulsed the Hessian troops. Sources vary as to the number killed from 200 to 600, including von Donop. Smith's Memoirs clearly indicate the higher number. Though not of great strategic importance (Fort Mercer was later abandoned when the British made it untenable following their taking of Fort Mifflin), it was of tremendous emotional import for the Continental troops.

"We hung three spies"Two spies were hanged November 1, 1777, for having conducted the Hessians to Red Bank.

Sinking of the AugustaIn his Memoirs, Smith clearly confuses the 64-gun warship Augusta with the smaller 44-gun Roebuck. As part of the effort to secure the Delaware, a force of British war vessels was brought to bear in the attack upon Forts Mercer and Mifflin, as noted by Smith. The 64-gun Augusta, 44-gun Roebuck, 18-gun sloop of war Merlin, frigates Liverpool and Pearl and a galley ship sought to force their way upriver with the incoming tide. The Pearl's log recorded that the fleet "work'd up the River in order to engage the Rebel Vessels and prevent their firing on our Troops, who appear'd to be much gall'd from the Enemies Shipping; 1/2 past 5 the Rebel Galleys &c. began firing n us, which was return'd by the Roebuck, Augusta & Cornwallis Galley." Unfortunately for the British, both the Augusta and Merlin ran aground on shoaling sands on October 23 off Fort Mifflin, following which Augusta caught fire. Though the British frantically tried to salvage the burning ship, it ultimately had to be abandoned. The fire ignited its magazine which exploded and destroyed the Augusta, the largest Royal Navy warship lost in the entire Revolution. The survivors were taken aboard the remaining ships, including the Roebuck.

"Sometime in November we were obliged to leave Red Bank"
Fort Mercer was evacuated in mid-November 1777, following the British capture of Fort Mifflin.

Valley Forge
Though Smith's narrative contains little detail, it clearly indicates the suffering experienced at Valley Forge where it is estimated some 2,000 died during the course of the winter of 1777-78, with Smith himself falling ill. Food and clothing were both scarce, and Washington was moved o write "that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place ... this Army must inevitably ... starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence in the best manner they can."

"We remained at Valley Forge until sometime in June"
Fearing a French blockade, the British forces under General Clinton withdrew from Philadelphia. Learning of this, Washington moved to intercept Clinton, and the Continental Army moved out from Valley Forge June 19, 1778, upon receiving news that Philadelphia had been abandoned by the British.

Elias Cornelius (1758-1823)
Though of a Loyalist family, Cornelius enlisted January 1, 1777, and because of some medical background, he served as a surgeon's mate in the 2d Rhode Island regiment under General Israel Angell. Cornelius, like Smith, served at Red Bank, but was captured before the army entered winter encampment at Valley Forge. Cornelius escaped on January 7, 1778, and rejoined his regiment at Valley Forge. Cornelius later wrote reminiscences entitled Journal of Dr. Elias Cornelius, A Revolutionary Surgeon: Graphic Description of his Suffering while a Prisoner in Provost jail, New York, 1777 and 1778.

The Battle of Monmouth (New Jersey), June 28, 1778
The battle was fought between Washington and the main body of the Continental Army which moved eastward from Pennsylvania to attack the rear of the retreating British army led by Sir Henry Clinton as it departed Freehold, New Jersey, with the purpose of reaching Sandy Hook and embarkation for New York. The British were evacuating Philadelphia and New Jersey as untenable, fearing that French naval forces might cut their supply lines. General Charles Lee was the first to attack the rear of the British force, but retreated when the British turned to repulse the attack. Both sides claimed victory. While the British achieved their aim of evacuating their army intact from New Jersey, the Americans could claim that they had forced the evacuation of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The battle which was marked by excessive heat is today perhaps best remembered for the presence of Mary Hays (Molly Pitcher). The American satisfaction over the outcome of Monmouth was marred, however, by subsequent wrangling over Lee's actions. Lee demanded to be court martialled in the belief that such a body would exonerate him of charges of insubordination. It did not. He was found guilty, a verdict later upheld by Congress, and allegations of treason would continue to dog him. Another Middleborough soldier, Captain Joshua Eddy is said to have been witness to Washington's castigation of Lee.

The Battle of Rhode Island
A force was despatched under General John Sullivan to move northward into Rhode Island and join with French naval forced for an attack upon Newport. Before it could reach the city, the American force clashed with the British at the northern end of Aquidneck Island. Continental forces performed a tactical withdrawal to a line which ranged across the island just south of Butt's Hill in preparation for an invasion force of 100 British vessels encouraged by the departure of d'Estaing's fleet for repairs in Boston. The storm which Smith mentions occurred on August 11 and 12, and laid flat cornfields and hayfields over the course of the two days. On the evening of August 30-31, the British permitted the American forces to withdraw by boat to Tiverton and Bristol. Following the battle, the regular troops rejoined Washington and a small force was retained at Fort Barton in Tiverton.

Black Troops
Undoubtedly a reference to the 1st Rhode Island, a nearly all African-American regiment. The 2d Rhode Island also included black troops. Rhode Island, along with Massachusetts, emancipated slaves willing to serve as soldiers, paying compensation to their owners for the loss of their "property".

October 25, 1779
The date the British finally evacuated Newport, Rhode Island

ABOUT RECOLLECTING NEMASKET

Recollecting Nemasket is a web log about the history of Middleborough and Lakeville, Massachusetts. In addition to publishing local history articles, Recollecting Nemasket seeks to be an interactive educational resource for community history by providing links to historical information and sources, and by soliciting input from readers in the form of recollections, photographs and other images.

Please feel free to comment upon the articles, to record your recollections or to contact me with any stories or images you might wish to share with others.

If you wish to use images or text from this site, please include a link or credit to Recollecting Nemasket.

History Relevance Campaign

LOCATING NEMASKET

Middleborough and Lakeville are situated at the heart of southeastern Massachusetts as shown on H. F. Walling's 1871 map of the Commonwealth

Contact Me

Discover Middleborough Magazine

Recollecting Nemasket was honored to be able to contribute to the inaugural edition of Middleborough's new digital magazine which features hsitoric Titicut.

The Famous Trotting Ground: A History of Middleborough's Fall Brook Driving Park

Nemasket River Herring: A History

Representatives of the Great Cause

Star Mill: History & Architecture

South Middleborough: A History

New Pictorial History of Middleborough

Available from local and on-line booksellers.

Lakeville's King Philip Tavern

Lakeville's Native "Princesses"

Wootonekanuske and Teweeleema, more familiarly known as Charlotte and Melinda Mitchell, were the last descendants of Massasoit and lived at Betty's Neck in Lakeville.

New England Cranberry Sales Company

Formed in 1907 as the first cranberry growers' cooperative in Massachusetts, the New England Cranberry Sales Company was headquartered at Everett Square in Middleborough. In 1954, it merged with Ocean Spray.

Ebenezer W. Peirce, "History of Middleboro'" in D. Hamilton Hurd. History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia, PA: J. W. Lewis & Co., 1884.

Ebenezer W. Peirce, "History of Lakeville" in D. Hamilton Hurd. History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia, PA: J. W. Lewis & Co., 1884.

Gladys Vigers. History of the Town of Lakeville, Massachusetts. Lakeville, MA: Town of Lakeville, 1952.

Phyllis Elliott Draghetti and D. Evelyn Sylvia Norris. History of the Town of Lakeville: The Next Twenty-Five years 1953-1978. Lakeville, MA: Town of Lakeville, 1978.

William Hubbard. The History of the Indian Wars in New England from the First Settlement to the Termination of the War with King Philip, in 1677. Roxbury, MA: Samuel G. Drake, 1865. Volume 1. Volume 2.